ALBION came from behind to cement their position at the Championship summit.
The Baggies conceded after just four minutes - from another set-piece - when old boy James O'Connor, who failed to score during his 19-month spell at the club, stabbed home.
But on-loan Bostjan Cesar's first-ever Baggies goal deservedly clawed Tony Mowbray's table-toppers level in the 26th minute.
And man-of-the-moment Roman Bednar headed the hosts in front on the hour-mark with his 12th goal in as many starts.
The win would have been much more comfortable had Robert Koren not seen his 70th-minute spot-kick saved by ex-Baggies keeper Brian Jensen.
But the three points were no less than the hosts deserved.
They recovered from a shaky start to dominate against the top-six hopefuls.
The result ended the in-form Clarets' perfect record on Midlands soil this term, having previously won at Leicester, Wolves and Coventry.
Albion were boosted by the return of Kevin Phillips from a calf injury. The division's top scorer partnered Bednar in attack, with Filipe Teixeira dropping to the bench.
New loan signing Michal Danek started on the bench after the club received international clearance to field the Viktoria Plzen keeper.
Burnley's new loan signings Andrew Cole and Mark Randall started on the bench.
Today's contest threw up an intriguing battle as the team with the division's second best home record entertained the side with the Championship's second best away record.
Burnley arrived in the Black Country in buoyant mood after a run of three successive wins had moved them within one point of the play-offs.
And they got off to the perfect start when Albion's set-piece Achilles heel stuck again after just four minutes.
David Unsworth appeared to illegally hold off Zoltan Gera when Robbie Blake swung a free-kick into the Albion box.
But there was no whistle and the Burnley centre-half headed the ball down to O'Connor who volleyed home his first goal of the campaign from inside the six-yard box.
It almost got worse for the hosts seconds later when Chris McCann was allowed to advance forward before firing just wide from 25 yards.
Albion came agonisingly close to leveling in the eighth minute when Morrison saw a free header from Jonathan Greening's corner smash the Clarets bar.
But Owen Coyle's side were soon back on the attack and Wade Elliott turned Cesar inside out before dragging a 20-yard effort the wrong side of the left-hand post.
At the other end, Phillips was off target with a shot from similar range after neat work by Gera.
Moments later, Paul Robinson got to the byline and swung in a left-wing cross which found Phillips.
But the ex-England man could not get enough purchase on his shot to test Jensen under pressure from another Hawthorns old boy, Stan Varga.
Gera may also have done better with an instinctive header which flew over after the Clarets failed to clear another Greening corner.
Albion were building up a head of steam and it needed a vital last-ditch challenge by Joey Gudjonsson to deny Phillips a clear sight of goal.
Bednar was next to try his luck in the 23rd minute, only to fire straight at Jensen from 20 yards.
Albion were getting closer and Phillips whistled another long-range effort just past the post.
The hosts finally leveled in the 26th minute. Cesar lost his marker to expertly volley home Greening's corner from eight yards.
Less than a minute later, only Varga's clearance in the nick of time prevented Phillips tapping Carl Hoefkens' cross into an empty net.
The Albion siege continued and Gera was just inches away from scoring the goal of the season with an acrobatic overhead kick from Greening's cross.
The frenetic pace of the game finally slowed down as both teams caught their breath.
But it was Albion who were soon back on the front foot, with Gera curling a delicious 20-yard effort just wide.
Morrison went even closer with a half-volley from just outside the box which beat Jensen all ends up before flashing inches past the far post.
Both teams took a while to get going after the break and it wasn't until the 59th-minute when Albion went close again, with Morrison just failing to get on the end of workaholic Greening's centre.
But Mowbray's men were ahead 60 seconds later.
Bednar towered above Unsworth at the back stick to head Robinson's brilliant centre in off the right-hand post, giving Jensen no chance.
Albion were now hunting a killer third goal and Jensen was relieved to see Cesar's fierce volley fly through a sea of legs and right into his arms from Greening's free-kick.
The Baggies had a great chance to extend their lead when Koren won a penalty after being felled by Jon Harley.
The Slovenian international took the 70th-minute spot-kick himself, but his right-footed effort was saved by Jensen.
The incident gave Burnley renewed hope and Dean Kiely had to be well positioned to deal with O'Connor's 20-yard snapshot.
But Albion still looked dangerous and Jensen had to be alert to push away Gera's stinging 20-yard drive.
Back came Burnley and the Baggies were relieved to see O'Connor stab straight at Kiely from 15 yards following Robbie Blake's flick-on.
Jensen showed another safe pair of hands in the 85th-minute to clutch Morrison's low drive from the edge of the box.
Koren came within a whisker of adding a third deep into stoppage time with a 20-yard piledriver which shaved the right-hand post as Albion comfortably saw out a tenth home win of the term.
ALBION (4-4-2): Kiely; Hoefkens, Albrechtsen, Cesar, Robinson; Gera, Koren, Greening, Morrison; Phillips (Beattie 71), Bednar (Teixeira 76). Subs not used: Danek (gk), Barnett, Brunt.
BURNLEY (4-4-2): Jensen; Alexander, Varga, Unsworth, Harley; Elliott, O'Connor, Gudjonsson (Spicer 81), McCann (Randall 70); Blake, Akinbiyi (Cole 71). Subs not used: Kiraly (gk), Caldwell.
GOALS: ALBION - Cesar (26), Bednar (60). BURNLEY - O'Connor (4).
BOOKINGS: BURNLEY - McCann (foul 20), Harley (foul 40), Randall (foul 89).
REFEREE: M Pike (Cumbria).
ALBION STARMAN: Jonathan Greening.
ATTENDANCE: 22,206.
PIC: PUTTING GAME TO BED...Roman heads home Albion's winner
